Texans ain’t braggin’ any more

An Op-Ed in the Washington Post swings a big axe at the Lone Star State. The Web verison of the commentary by Bryan Burrough is under the headline “Death and Texas.” Burrough says Rep. Ron Paul is the most visible Texan in Washington these days now that George W. Bush is out of the White House and back in Dallas.

He takes a look at Texas’ influence from the beginning of “Big Rich” oilmen through the LBJ era and all the way to Tom DeLay and the Bush presidencies. “It’s been a long time since Texas was irrelevant,” Burrough writes. All the way to irrelevant? Ouch.

The worst part is the piece declares Kinky Friedman as the closest thing to a public intellectual that the Lone Star State can come up with these days. That’s down right mean. On the bright side, Burrough predicts Texas will be back in power. However, he doesn’t sound too happy about it.

Maybe if Texans can get somebody other than a W. or a Tom DeLay-type to take the lead next time, the state’s reputation will be better. But maybe not.

Bruce Davidson

One Response

Somebody other than W.? You mean the same W. that the Express-News endorsed – twice??

Three times if you count the endorsement of John McSame.

The only good thing to come out of the Bush presidency is that it is now highly unlikely that the country would ever be foolish enough to elect Rick Perry or John Cornyn as president.

The recent elevation of Joe Staus as Speaker of the Texas House is at least a step in the right direction. How about a gubernatorial race next year between Kay Bailey Hutchison and Leticia Van de Putte? That could change Texas’ image quite a bit. And then if we could elect a Democrat like John Sharp or Bill White to fill Kay Bailey’s seat, THEN perhaps we will see Texas’ influence and reputation start to rebound.